Our delivery service allows you to pick a delivery date in advance when you reach the checkout.

Next day delivery is free on orders over £45.

Our deliveries are Tuesday to Friday as standard and we also offer a Saturday delivery as a premium service, but this is unfortunately an expensive option, so it’s much better to try and plan ahead.

Your order will be kept fresh in our insulated boxes and the box can be used as storage for larger cuts if you replace or re-freeze the ice sheets. This comes in very handy when you don’t have enough room in your fridge on busy special occasions.

Most of the meat we sell is at it’s best the day it’s delivered to you and will have a limited period within which you can use it. The exception to this is beef, where the flavour and texture may become better from a few days or more of ageing in the fridge, depending on the cut and your particular taste.

It is best to keep all raw meat as close to freezing point as possible, our recommendation is below 3°c. Keep your meat in the coldest part of the fridge. If your meat came in a vacuum pack, it can be kept in this until you’re ready to use it. If it came in a shrink wrapped tray, then remove from the tray, pat dry with paper towel and re-wrap in cling film or keep in a sealed container.

You should cook your meat within a few days if it’s a larger cut. If it’s minced or diced it should be cooked within a day or so of arrival. Meats in a larger cut with hard fat such as beef, mutton and lamb will keep best.

If you want to keep your meat for longer the best option is freezing. This should be done as soon as possible after the meat has arrived. If the meat has arrived in a vacuum pack from us this will be perfect for freezing unopened.

Beef and lamb will keep for up to a year when frozen properly. Pork will keep for 6 months and poultry for 3 months.

Keep in mind that freezing meat will cause changes in the quality and structure. Ice crystals will form and this will cause moisture loss. The freezer can cause damage to the surface of the meat, known as freezer burn, that will make the meat taste off.

Freeze meat as fast as possible in a freezer at a very low temperature. If possible keep in the vacuum pack that it arrived in. If re-wrapping try to avoid any air pockets and wrap as tightly as possible. For smaller cuts of meat and mince etc, keep the portion size as small as possible and wrap in a number of layers of good quality bags or cling film. If possible use a final layer of paper or foil to prevent exposure to light.

DRY AGEING BEEF IN THE FRIDGE For some larger cuts of beef, you can keep them in the fridge at home covered loosely with some paper (ideally on a rack to allow air to circulate).

WHAT CAUSES PROBLEMS? The main causes of problems are oxygen and light, microbes and bacteria and warm temperatures. Microbes are always present on the surface of meat regardless of the source and quality.

If you’ve followed the guidelines for keeping the meat, you should have no problems. The best guide to the condition of any food is your nose and your eyes, so give any meat you’re about to cook a good smell first and look at all the surfaces for any signs of contamination.

Isolate all raw meat and their juices from other foods during preparation and storage. Make sure to wash surfaces and utensils thoroughly with hot soapy water after preparing raw meat.

Thawing frozen meat.

This should be done in the refrigerator, very gradually. If you wish to speed up the process, put your meat in a container filled with water and ice cubes. Don’t thaw meat in hot water or at room temperature as this will promote the growth of bacteria.

Examine meat carefully.

Take your meat from the packaging and smell it. If there’s an off smell to the meat, which can sometimes be the case with vac packing, rinse the surface and then blot dry. If there are any surfaces that have been exposed to the air and have discoloured, trim these off.

Poultry

Rinse poultry thoroughly, including inside the cavity of whole bird, and blot dry.

Opinions differ on the subject but, allowing meat to come to room temperature prior to cooking may aid in the cooking process. Certainly an hour or so for a large joint won’t do any harm. Don’t leave poultry or minced and diced meats in a warm kitchen for any more than an hour before cooking.

HANDLE ALL MEAT WITH CAUTION

Assume that any piece of raw meat may be infected with harmful bacteria and handle it accordingly.

Delivery Restrictions

Unfortunately we are currently unable to provide a delivery service to offshore islands and some areas in Scotland. This is due to the time sensitive nature of our products which must be delivered within 24 hours. Details Here